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Mortar Attack Hits Kabul During President’s Speech

Ashraf Ghani was delivering his holiday message for Eid al-Adha at the presidential palace

The sound of mortar fire resonated near Kabul’s presidential palace as Afghan President Ashraf Ghani was giving a speech marking the beginning of a Muslim holiday.

By

Craig Nelson

Updated Aug. 21, 2018 2:23 p.m. ET

KABUL—Suspected militants unleashed a barrage of mortars near the presidential palace and Defense Ministry in the Afghan capital on Tuesday, as President Ashraf Ghani delivered a speech marking the start of the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha.

In a multipronged strike carried out by nine insurgents, some 40 mortar rounds were fired from improvised launchers mounted in the beds of two pickup trucks parked near a mosque in central Kabul, said U.S. Army Lt. Col. Martin O’Donnell, spokesman for the U.S.-led international coalition...